We have talked before about selecting movies that are uplifting and portray good family values–for example, “Using Movies From the Lord’s Side of the Line,” “Best Positive/Uplifting Movies Ever,” and “Taking Control Back from Hollywood.”

This article highlights several sites that review movies from a family perspective.

1. The Mormon Movie Guy (mormonmovieguy.com) provides Hollywood film reviews from a Latter-Day Saint perspective. On his About page, Mormon Movie Guy Jonathan Decker says he has “a passion for cinema and especially for pointing people to great films that they might otherwise overlook.” In an article about what makes media good, Jonathan mentions that many Latter-Day Saints “have a mental moral checklist; this is to say that we look for what is absent (sex, harsh profanity, glorified and sadistic violence, etc.). While this is important, we may not focus enough on what is present in the films and TV shows we watch. A film can be inoffensive without uplifting the soul.” He defines truly good media as ”media of substance which, to paraphrase Elder Ballard, uplifts, entertains, and accurately depicts the consequences of moral choices.” He provides a content overview as well as messages to discuss with the family.

2. Common Sense media (CommonSenseMedia.org/reviews) uses a ratings scale of 1 to 5, evaluating positive messages, positive role models, violence, sex, language, consumerism, and drinking/drugs/smoking. Each rating has a explanatory paragraph. It also brings up questions that you may want to discuss with your children after the movie.

3. Kids in Mind (kids-in-mind.com) rates questionable material in 3 categories: sex & nudity, violence & gore, and profanity. It also details in a comprehensive all the instances of such content in each category.

4. Deseret News Family Media Guide (deseretnews.com/familymedia) is in its beta stage. It uses content descriptions and 1-to-10 scales from Kids in Mind, but it has a few unique features–a “What do you think this movie should be rated? feature to see how other voters think and a “worth your time” scale recommendation.

5. Focus on the Family’s Plugged In (pluggedin.com) site covers all the topics needed. It had a brief plot synopsis and reviews all the positive and spiritual elements of the film. It also delineates the sexual, violent, crude/profane, and drug/alcohol content. It neatly wraps up the package with a conclusion that ties all the elements together to help you decide if this movie is worth watching.

6. Movie Mom (blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom) provides age ratings. The site addresses the same basic categories as other sites, but also writes a full review of the movie and provides family discussion topics and suggestions for similar movies.

7. Parent Previews (ParentPreviews.com) ties with Common Sense Media for the best overall balance of breadth and depth. Each movie gets an overall grade, as well as a grade in four classes: violence, sexual content, language, and drugs/alcohol. It has a “talk it over” section with discussions questions. It also has suggestions for similar films.

Try these out and let us know which one  you like the best? Thanks to “{A&E} Finding Clean Movies” from LDS Living, Jan/Feb 2012, p. 27. If you have questions or want to recommend other review sites, please comment below.

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